Henry

Have you ever heard people say they like dogs more than people?

I get it.   I think dogs are people.  Let me explain….

 

Henry,  12 weeks old

The happiest day of our lives was about fifteen years ago when we brought our Henry, the amazing Whippet home to live with us. He's been a very special part of our lives. His qualities include not only loyal, loving and fun but intuitive, comforting, healing and soothing.  I am not sure if it's the breed or his unique genes or both but Henry has incredible empathy. He has always known when someone was ill, down or just needed comforting and love. No matter what he always gave fully of himself to help others.  That's unconditional love.

He was with several friends and family in their final days. He visited my cousin Irving who was dying from lymphoma, Monique's brother Joe,  my old business partner Greg and friend Ed who died from cancer.  He visited my father while he lay dying  on on his hospital bed. In fact one of my father's last words was:  "Henry!" as the lovable Whippet jumped on his bed and lay with him while my father gently stroked him, providing him with invaluable love and comfort.

 My father adored Henry, whom he often said was a human and not a dog.                           And Henry loved my father.

Henry visited my mother regularly while she was in care. He always made her feel better.

Monique's mom also really loved Henry.

Monique's brother  Joe, normally a cat person also loved Henry who was with him during his last days.

Henry was very involved in the community. He went on political rallies and met many politicians and dignitaries.

Henry listening to Stephane Dion's lecture. I think he got more out of then we did.

Campaigning in 2015 with Murray Rankin MP and Mike Harcourt former Premier of BC.

Murray Rankin conferring with Henry

 Henry listening carefully to Tom Mulcair

Henry is a healing soul. He's helped Monique through migraines, illness and often comforts her. He knows exactly what to do. He curls up with her in bed and then puts his head on her neck.

 

Henry was also a big support for me during my illness and treatment. Although he wasn't allowed into the room when I had chemo, (why not, he was family, right?) he was always there at home to comfort and nap with me. It's as if he knew what I needed. He's always been very intuitive. I can't imagine going through it all without him.

Henry had been slowing down this past year.  He became more lethargic and arthritic. We thought this was normal. After all he was 15 now! However at the end of May he was at an all time low. One day he was unstable on his feet, falling down, looked dizzy and even peed himself. At the animal hospital he was diagnosed with cannabis poisoning which was to be confirmed by blood work. After a three hour wait we decided to do the blood tests the next day. When Henry saw his vet Dr. Hyzka the next day he was still very wobbly and she doubted the cannabis diagnosis and ordered blood work. Unfortunately the blood tests revealed that his liver was either damaged or not functioning properly.

Then the most incredible sequence of events began. I reached out through social media  to my childhood friend Dr. Ernie Rogers who is now a great forensic veterinarian and C.S.I.  He  reviewed  Henry's blood work, symptoms and asked peculiar questions like: how his breath smelled, and has he had a big fall recently?  Ernie then urged us to obtain an ultra sound urgently! He was worried about his spleen. His spleen I asked? Isn't his liver the culprit? But Ernie insisted. "Get that Ultra sound! Do it now!"  So we had one done the next day.  It revealed a huge squid-like mass attached to his spleen that was wrapped around his liver. Our vet thought it looked like cancer. In a common sense way she explained "well he's 15, he has had a good life, surgery would be risky, so maybe it's his time?"  We were crushed. But Ernie messaged me, "don't give up. You have options."  Furthermore he insisted "get Xrays of his lungs. Do it now!" So we did it the next day. His lungs were clear. We thought surgery was an option.

We then got a referral to a first rate animal surgeon.  The next morning Dr. Christian Bolliger called us. He reviewed everything. He said that although Henry's lungs and liver appeared clean, he did not like the look of the liver image which revealed nodules, and in his experience these type of tumours are almost always cancerous with metastasis (cancer spreading) to the liver. At best Henry's chance of surviving surgery and being cured was 50/50. He said  that he could get a team together and do the surgery at 2:00 PM that same day. No pressure! So we met him at 2:00 PM.


We had a three hour grueling consultation with Dr. Bolliger during which he explained that he was very pessimistic about Henry's liver. The liver markers in his blood work were through the roof. The ultra sound revealed suspicious looking nodules. To him that meant:  cancer was likely.   Furthermore Henry was really sick. He was only going to survive a few more days.  It seemed that we had three options: we could euthanize Henry right then, take him home and have a few more days with him or have the surgery.  We asked if Dr. Bolliger opened him up, could he tell by examining his liver if it was diseased. He was quite confident that he could.  Meanwhile I got another timely instant message from Ernie. "Just take his spleen out! Do it now!"  So after going back and forth we made one of the toughest decisions of our lives, we opted to go ahead with the surgery, but we instructed Dr. Bolliger to not let Henry wake up if his liver looked diseased or if a cancer had spread.

We were with Henry for part of his anesthesia. We didn't want Henry's last feelings to be fear or last interaction with humans to be with strangers. It was a very sad and heartbreaking time.

 Saying goodbye to Henry, and wishing him luck before his surgery.

Two hours later Henry was in surgery.  After an agonizing hour and a half, one of Dr. Bolliger's team came out with a big smile.  Henry was fine! His liver looked good.  Dr. Bolliger took out the mass, his spleen and finished the surgery. Now the rest was up to Henry; to wake up and make it through the next few days.  A little later Dr. Bolliger came out and showed us a picture of the mass. It was  huge. He did not think it was a cancer but he biopsied the liver and sent the spleen and the "tumour" to a pathologist.   He told us to go home and he would call us.   It was hard to sleep that night. Early the next morning Dr. Bolliger called us and said Henry was awake and asked us to visit him and try and feed him. Apparently Henry didn't like the hospital food. Who does?  So we brought him some treats and his favourite thing, a croissant.  Sounds like pampering, doesn't it?  But, after all, he was so brave!

 

We saw him the day after surgery and took him out for a stroll. He was weak and wobbly but alive! He nibbled on a bit of the food and croissant but looked really unhappy. Henry came home two days after surgery and was very happy to be here!

He improved daily. His energy and appetite returned. He was actually better than he had been in many months. A few days after coming home, his surgeon called to say that the pathology reports revealed that there was not any indication of liver disease. In fact the tumour was benign and likely not even a tumour. He said "I can't explain it." He informed us  that Henry would have a normal life expectancy, as if this never happened!

You know, it doesn't always come to be, but what can you say about great things happening to wonderful people (I know….. you're thinking Henry is just a dog… I’m not so sure )   Whether or not you believe in something divine,  or you are spiritual. How do you explain this?  Karma? Luck? Coincidence?

Personally…. I think it was nothing short of miraculous.   Henry is an inspiration. He has given so much to so many people during his life, and now as reward he was given a little more time on this planet. 

That is an incredible gift. 

Epilogue

Some time after his surgery we ran into a woman a few times on our walks with Henry. She was immediately taken with him. She asked for his birth date because she is a numerologist.  When we last saw here she told us that she thought about Henry and believed that he was a healer, and a luminary.  She said, he must have a profound effect on people. She did not have any background or know anything of his history!  How's that for another "coincidence?"  I think she totally got Henry.  Don't you?

And as for the incredible Dr. Ernie, Henry's guardian angel,  who guided us from over 3,500 miles away without ever meeting Henry?  When I thanked him profusely…. Ernie said, “ Ah it was just a lucky guess on my part.”     I don't know about you, but I’m not so sure that I agree with Ernie.